Yard sale

We're planning to have a modest yard sale this Saturday. The forecast is fabulous (low 60s and sunny) and of course, it's a holiday weekend, so I'm hoping these translate to a good turnout.

We thought we would have soooo many things to sell - but once we started organizing and tossing crappy stuff, we found that it wasn't as much of a wildly humongous pile as we'd imagined. A lot of it was baby gear and toys. We are still undecided on a second baby, so I've kept some key items (breast pump! haha!) but I'm thinking #2 will be Streamlined Baby (that will be his or her legal name), and anything we must replace, we will find second-hand when the time comes. Anyway, I was able to get rid of almost all the baby stuff in one quick and cheap sale a few nights ago. That was a big relief - I wasn't really into the thought of haggling over teething rings at a yard sale.

We also got rid of a big ladder we won't need, as well as an older air compressor, and the extra sump pump - the two former items were sold to friends needing them, so that was great.

We have some larger furniture pieces to sell off, but most can't be part of the yard sale because we don't want to get rid of the pieces so soon, then be without for weeks until closing - but we have prospective buyers for those already (more friends - yay!). So a few unnecessary pieces will go out on Saturday.

I have a lot of kitchen items going out, as well as curtains and linens, a few electronics, some artwork and decor, and odds and ends from all areas of the house. We are also hoping to sell a weight bench and bar w/olympic weights, a baby sandbox, and oh, I dunno...other stuff too.

I've had 2 previous yard sales since we've been here, and those were both successful, but in part because we participated in the community yard sale day, so the traffic was a given. For this one, we will advertise in the local paper, as well as craigslist (and facebook!) and hope for the best...or at least hoping that 6 hours outside will yield a worthwhile profit.

The big update

Wow, so the deal is actually materializing. We are moving out, and up, and closer to work and to a residential area. Check, check and check. Verbal agreement turned into paper, turned into verbal acceptance of counter offer, along with sale of their own home actually happening which turns into this deal actually being for real. Now we wait for a few initials here and there, and it's all set into motion.

Of course I am too superstitious to throw a party just yet - appraisers and attorneys and banks all have to do their things without encountering any serious obstacles first...then, once we have identified both closing dates, we can get silly.

Here's how I foresee it (hopefully) happening: we close on the new house approximately end of September, then about 3 weeks later, we close on this house. This allows a nice chunk of time to make the move less stressful, as well as the enormous relief that we won't be carrying 2 mortgages until who-knows-when.

And now, a pictorial summary of our housing since we were married in 2002:

Our apartment in Oneonta (formerly Tim's icky bachelor pad) is now seasonal rentals for the local summer tourist attractions - I was so happy to find this site because the only snapshots I have of the place were pre-digital and I am waaaaay too lazy to scan. It's the same landlord, and I am pleased to see she kept some of the same colors we painted. It's looking cute (despite those window treatments). Ah, those were fun days. We really got that place spruced up. Rent was cheap. The place had issues, but for the time, it was great. We had the downstairs apartment(pictured first).

On December 30, 2003, we closed on our first and current home. It used to look like this on the outside, and we shan't speak of the wallpaper and other horrors inside:

We have re-done every thing since - every room inside, and everything outside, and in between. I'm not exaggerating one bit:



And soon, we will be living here - in a brand new, cape-cod style (love), open plan custom contemporary with wrap around deck on a gated 1 acre lot. Gated, as in enclosed with fence all around, with gates and stone entry pillars and sidewalks. And a gazebo. With power. I'm sorry, what? No, that's right. You read that right (I'm talking to myself here too - I have to say that over and over and I still hardly believe it). Some of the features are insanely custom (= quirky), but the finish quality of it all more than makes up for it. And have I mentioned we are getting a very good deal?

Note there are a few steps down and more sidewalk right where Tim and Sam are standing (they're not actually giants compared to the house). The building to the right is the garage, and the gazebo is behind the house. Yes, the garage has its own little matching deck. A little strange, but cute. That's the sort of thing I mean with insanely custom - I would have just opted for a bigger garage. Who knows. Might be a good spot for a band though. You can also make out a small section of white fencing to the left, behind the house.
Well, I'm exhausted. Tim is at a poker game. Sam finally fell asleep (he took a long nap at preschool so he was bound to be a late bird tonight).
Keep us in your thoughts in the coming week, in hopes that everything will continue to go somewhat smoothly...

Running from stress

I'm seriously trying to just look the other way, not dwell too much, and not get myself so nervous that my daily activities become nearly impossible to focus on. Cause I do this whenever we have a big 'thing' to deal with, good or bad.

So the 90 day window to sell our house was about to run out. We have had decent activity, have been 'runners up' too many times, had a couple offers, but no deals. We were proactive and decided that we could a) ask the sellers of the other house for an extension, or b) move forward w/ a cash offer, taking on the risk of not having sold our home, but asking if they would then take less than our original bid. We decided to do b because 1) they could easily say no to a, or ask for more money to agree to a, and 2) because some positives come out of negotiating a better deal and holding both homes for a short period of time...a lot of that being less packing and moving stress. They agreed to b, and we negotiated a better deal.

Now, the pressure is on to sell our house. Lo and behold, a week later, someone (let's call them The Family) that had made a previous low-ball joke of an offer came back with a more reasonable offer. They sold their home and they are ready to buy. Long and agonizing story short, we are finally about 8K apart and it looks good - with one exception, which I just learned about today: the inspection on The Family's home might be problematic, and their deal might fall through, which might make any deal we'd strike with The Family fall through - or drag on .Either way, we'd be back to the possibility of holding 2 mortgages with no guarantee of when we'd close the deal with The Family, and with Winter approaching. We haven't had a showing in 2 weeks and counting, and the 'buying season' is coming to a close.

So, needless to say, I'm kinda scared - and upset - because we are sooo close to having this all work out so well. Stupid inspections. That's all for now. I'll keep you posted.